Westmont man charged with fondling pregnant woman

A man from Westmont is accused of inappropriately touching a pregnant woman in the western suburb.

On Wednesday, Keenan Fowlkes, 18, approached a 28-year-old woman as she was walking in a strip mall near 63rd Street and Fairview Avenue, addressed her and then rubbed her abdomen, the DuPage County state’s attorney’s office said in a statement.

Fowlkes told her, “I haven’t seen you in the area, you’re pretty,” and “I can help you with your kid,” prosecutors said. He continued to inappropriately touch her, and then grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her toward him, prosecutors said.

The woman freed herself and contacted police, according to prosecutors. Officers arrested Fowlkes at a nearby restaurant.

Fowlkes was charged with a felony count of aggravated battery to a pregnant woman, and was ordered held on $50,000 bail, according prosecutors. He was due in court again Feb. 1.

“My office has no tolerance whatsoever for the type of actions Mr. Fowlkes has been charged with,” DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin said in the statement. “We will do everything within our power to ensure that no one is subjected to the kind of violent and aggressive behavior alleged in this case.